Conner Is New Head of College Trustees

Lindsay Conner was elected president of the Los Angeles Community College District’s Board of Trustees after he was sworn into his third four-year term as trustee Wednesday. Also inaugurated during upbeat ceremonies at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College were first-term trustees Althea Baker and Patrick Owens.

Six of the seven board members voted for Conner as president, but David Lopez-Lee abstained, citing disagreements over the handling of the district’s financial crisis four years ago and Conner’s support at that time for proposed faculty layoffs. Lopez-Lee first nominated Owens as president Wednesday, but Owens declined and voted for Conner.

As president for the next year, Conner succeeds Harold Garvin, who was president for the past two years and remains as a trustee.

The board oversees the district’s nine colleges as they emerge from a period of administrative shake-ups, including the hiring last year of a new chancellor, Donald Phelps.